Method of manufacturing noise makers



- April 21, 1942. v. T. HOEFLICH METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A NOISE MAKER Filed NOV. 14, 194Q INVENTOR VICTOR T. HOEFLICH BY I K m ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1942 METHOD OF MANUFACTURING NOISE MAKERS Victor T. Hoeflich, New York, N. Y., assignor to American Merri-Lei Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 14, 1940, Serial No. 365,582

7 Claims.

This invention relates to noise makers, and to an improved method for making the same.

The primary object of my invention is to generally improve the manufacture of noise makers, particularly of the type called clappers."

A more particular object is to provide a noise maker or clapper having the excellent noise making qualities of wood, while at the same time having smooth finished surfaces and ornamental outlines or contours such as might ordinarily be obtained only by the use of paper board or the like. Another object is to make possible the rapid economical manufacture of the clappers under quantity production conditions. Still another object is to facilitate the provision of attractive illustrations and printed matter on the clappers.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the clapper and method elements and their relation one to the other as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a clapper embodying features of my invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show modified clapper outlines which may be readily produced by means of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a section explanatory of the laminated material employed;

Figure 7 illustrates how clappers of a single design may be die cut from a sheet of material;

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing how clappers of varied design may be simultaneously die-cut from a sheet of material;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating how the material may be die-cut in one form of die;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view looking at the cutting face of the die;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary section taken in the plane of the line ll--ll of Fig. 10, and is ex. planatory of the construction of the die;

Fig. 12 is a similar section showing the operation of the die;

Fig. 13 is a section through a punch forming a part of the die;

Fig. 14 is a perspective view schematically explanatory of a different form of punch and die which may be used; and

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary elevational view of still another form of die mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1, the clapper comprises a paddletion like or bat-like board including a noise making portion 12 and a handle portion 14. Hammers 16 are secured at the ends of a thin strip of spring metal or wire l8, the latter passing through a hole in the paddle at 20, and being additionally secured in position by means of a staple or other suitable fastener 22. The hammers I6 may vary in shape, size, and nature, but in the present case are shown as round wooden balls, which are the most common.

The paddle is made of laminated material, it comprising a wood center 24 with layers of paper 26 cemented on opposite sides of the wood. I have found that this construction has noise making properties fully comparable to that of a plain wooden paddle, yet has important manufacturing advantages. For example, the wood clappers heretofore made have had to be individually sawed to proper shape by means of a bandsaw or like machine. In order to make the clappers cheaply, the outline of the wooden clappers has been simplified so that they may be cut from small rectangular blanks, the only cutting operation being to narrow the width of the blank at the handle. For smooth finish a sanding operais desirable. Moreover, for adequate strength and to avoid splitting, the wood has been comparatively thick.

However, by using wood faced with strong sheets of paper on opposite sides, as indicated in Fig. l, the paddle is strengthened against.

splitting, so that the wood center portion may be quite thin. Specifically a single layer of veneer having a thickness of only a sixteenth of an inch is adequate. Most importantly, I have found that the laminated material may be die-cut, thus making it possible to use a variety of ornamental shapes, such as those illustrated in Figs. 1 through 5, and countless more. In Figs. 2 through 5, it will be understood that the paddles already have holes 20 therethrough for the reception of the clapper spring l8, and it may be explained that the holes 20 may be punched through the laminated material at the same time that the material is being die-cut to shape.

Referring to Fig. 7, it will be seen that a large number of paddle may be cut from a single piece of material, alternate paddles preferably being reversed in position in order to minimize the amount of scrap or waste material left after cutting the panels from the sheet. In Fig. 7 I show eight paddles cut from a single small sheet. However in actual practice I may cut twenty paddles at once from a single sheet having a dimension of, say, twenty by twenty-five inches,

which size is still small enough to be handled in an inexpensive die used in a printing press or like press. .4

In Fig. 8 I show how paddles of a variety of shapes may be simultaneously cut from a single laminated board. This may be done when the quantity needed of any one paddle is not great enough to warrant the use of a die which makes only a single shape as shown in Fig. '7.

Fig. 8 illustrates another important advantage of the present invention, namely, the possibility of preliminarily printing and ornamenting the entire panel or board 30 before cutting the same into paddles. Because of the paper surface of the paddles, they may be printed with intricate printing of good quality. Illustrations may be employed and reproduced with excellent detail. While a comparatively heavy paper coating is desirable, such for example, as kraft paper, the outermost surface may consist of a sheet of paper which is of any desired color and any desired lustre. In fact, even metal foil may be employed for a more expensive and distinctive product. If desired, the crude kraft paper surface may be used, but may be sprayed with suitable dyes, lacquers, or paints, while the material is still in panel form and before attempting to print and cut the same.

Referring now to Fig. 9, I there show a cutting die 32 mounted in the stationary head 34 of a printing press having a multiple head 36 which is oscillated by links 38. A panel 40 of the laminated material is placed in the printing press between the heads 34 and 36, and the operation of the presscauses the cutting blades 42 of die 32 to cut the panel.

The nature of the die 32 may be explained with reference to Figs. l0, l1, and 12 of the drawing. The die comprises a heavy wooden board 44 which is sawed on an outline conforming to the desired die outline. Ribbon-like steel blades 42 are bent to the desired shape and are forced into the sawcuts, thus holding the cutting blades in the exact desired shape. The board 44 rests against a metal press head or other metal backing 46, thus supporting the blades during the cutting action.

To strip the cut material from the die, the die is provided with rubber strips or blocks 46 which are cemented to the wooden board 44 at each side of the cutting blade. The rubber pads are suitably shaped to fit all around the cutting blades, as will.

be seen from the varied pieces 48, 50, 52, and 54 in Fig. 10. The rubber is substantially fiush with or may even project beyond the cutting edge of blade 42. When a panel is being cut, as indicated in Fig. 12, the rubber pads 48 are compressed. The panel preferably rests on a wood surface 56 so as to permit penetration by the blade 42. The wood member 56 is carried by one of the press heads while the die is carried by the other. When the press opens, the rubber pads 48 expand and push all parts of the cut panel free of the cutting blades. Thus the paddles and the scrap material surrounding the same tend to cling or adhere together and may be lifted as a unitary sheet from the press. Subsequently the paddles are readily separated from the scrap by a slight push, shake, or other separating force.

Referring to Fig. 10, it will be seen that the die may also carry'cylindrical or tubular punches 60. One of these is shown to somewhat larger scale in Fig. 13. These function to perforate the paddles with the holes 20 previously referred to, all as a part of the single die-cutting operation.

The procedure here illustrated is not feasible with plain wood. In the first place, the wood would have to be considerably thicker than the veneer employed by me, in order to give the same adequate strength against splitting. In the second place, the action of the cutting die would be to leave a rough splintered or split surface at those end edge portions of the paddle where the cut is against the grain. However, when the wood is faced on both sides with heavy coating or laminations of paper, the material cuts cleanly because of the protective action of the paper.

In Fig. 14 I illustrate schematically how the laminated material 62 may be cut in a regular punch and die, the punches 64 being carried in the reciprocating head of a suitable press, and the die 66 being carried on the bed of the press, all in accordance with known practice. With this arrangement the paddles are sheared and pushed through the die 66 and only the scrap material moves along through the die, as is indicated at 66. It will be understood that in Fig. 14 a part of the material being worked upon has been broken away in order to expose the die.

Still another arrangement which may be employed for die cutting the panels is schematically illustrated in Fig. 14. This arrangement is slower. because only one paddle is cut at a time, but the die is very simple, it consisting merely of a single piece of steel or blade 10 bent to the outline of the paddle. The sheet I2 of laminated material is laid ona support block 14. The blade 10 is moved or positioned by hand on panel 12, and the machine is then operated to cause a large flat head 16 to descend sufiiciently to cause blade 10 to cut through panel 12. The machine is that known as a clicker in shoe manufacture. The head I6 is swung aside and the die or blade 10 thereupon moved to an adjacent position, whereupon the head 16 is swung back and again operated, and so on. The die is very simple and inexpensive, but cuts only one paddle at a time.

The paddles are preferably cut with the grain of the wood running longitudinally of the paddle. Thus with the paddles laid out as shown in Figs. '7 and 8, the grain of the wood runs in the direction of the short rather than the long edge of the panel.

The back 46 in Fig. 12 might be provided with a hole at the end of punch 60 to receive the punchings, or the panel may be filled with a spring or with rubber to strip the punchings. However, the punch will operate even without these precautions, because after filling with punchings the latter act as a somewhat resilient filling for the punch.

It is believed that my improved method of manufacturing noise makers, as well as the many advantages of the same, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In the manufacture of wood noise makers such as clappers, the method which includes cementing relatively heavy sheets of papers on opposite sides of a thin sheet of wood, and then die-cutting a clapper paddle of ornamental out line from the resulting laminated material.

2. In the manufacture of wood noise makers such as clappers, the method which includes cementing sheets of relatively heavy paper on opposite sides of a sheet of wood veneer, and then simultaneously die-cutting a plurality of clapper paddles of ornamental outline from the resulting laminated material.

3. In the manufacture of noise makers such as clappers, the method which includes preliminarily cementing relatively heavy sheets of paper on opposite sides of a thin sheet of wood, appropriately coloring or/and printing the resulting laminated sheet for a plurality of clapper .paddles, and then die-cutting the sheet to simultaneously forma plurality of clapper paddles of ornamental outline.

4. In the manufacture of noise makers or clappers out of a laminated material comprising a sheet of wood with paper cemented on opposite sides thereof, the method which includes coloring or/and printing the sheet for the production of a plurality of clapper paddles and then die-cutting the sheet to simultaneously form a plurality of paddles.

5. In the manufacture of noise makers or clappers out of a laminated material comprising a sheet of wood with paper cemented on opposite sides thereof, the method which includes coloring or/and printing the sheet for the production of a plurality of clapper paddles, and then diecutting the sheet to simultaneously form a plurality of paddles each having an ornamental outline while at the same time punching a perforation through each of the paddles to subsequently receive the spring for the hammers of the clapper.

6. In the manufacture of noise makers or clappers out of a laminated material comprising a relatively thin sheet of wood with relatively heavy sheets of paper cemented on opposite sides thereof, the method which includes die-cutting the sheet to simultaneously form a plurality of clapper paddles of ornamental outline.

7. In the manufacture of noise makers or clappers out of a laminated material comprising a relatively thin sheet of wood with relatively heavy sheets of paper cemented on opposite sides thereof, the method which includes die-cutting the sheet to simultaneously form a plurality of paddles each having an ornamental outline, while at the same time punching a perforation through each ofthe paddles to subsequently receive the spring for the hammers of the clapper.

VICTOR T. HOEFLICH. 

